Malky Mackay to be offered a quick return to management

MALKY MACKAY is ready to talk to West Brom about an instant return to the Premier League.

PEACE: West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace is set to hold talks with Malky Mackay [GETTY]

Mackay, sacked yesterday by Cardiff following his long-running feud with owner Vincent Tan, will take the weekend to consider his future.

It had been thought that Mackay was not interested in the West Brom vacancy, but that is believed not to be the case now.

Albion chairman Jeremy Peace runs the club with a rod of iron. Any manager has to accept the title of ‘head coach’ and be prepared to slot into the way Peace does things.

But Mackay sees that as very different to the haphazard way Tan dictates at Cardiff, and would be interested in talking to Peace following Steve Clarke’s sacking.

Mackay is not keen on taking a prolonged break from football and wants to get back into the Premier League as soon as possible.

Albion, who decided not to pursue their interest in Spanish boss Pepe Mel yesterday, are working off a shortlist and hope to have their appointment made by Monday.

It is understood that Peace has not contacted Mackay because it was thought an uneasy compromise had been brokered between Tan and the Scot and he would be staying at Cardiff.

But that could change with Mackay now available and keen to at least talk to West Brom. If he were to take the Albion job and keep them safe in the top flight it could be at the expense of Cardiff, an irony not lost on him.

Mel had been West Brom’s preferred choice to take over as head coach and had met Peace for a second time in London yesterday.

AXED: Malky Mackay was sacked yesterday by Cardiff [GETTY]

Mackay is not keen on taking a prolonged break from football and wants to get back into the Premier League as soon as possible

However, former Real Betis manager Mel wanted to bring in a coach and physio of his own, while Albion did not feel he would fit in with the structure of the club, which also includes sporting and technical director Richard Garlick.

Other names in the frame at the Hawthorns include former Watford boss Gianfranco Zola and Spanish coach Jose Luis Mendilibar, who recently left Osasuna. Keith Downing will again take charge of West Brom at West Ham today, and may also now hold the reins for longer, especially after he picked up a valuable point at Tottenham on Boxing Day.

The instability is affecting the players, according to midfielder Zoltan Gera, as they prepare to face the one team down the bottom not to have blinked in the managerial sack race.

West Ham’s Sam Allardyce is the only boss in the bottom six not to have had his position shrouded with turmoil, and since Clarke was dismissed on December 14, Downing has merely been able to extend Albion’s form from six games without a league win to eight.

Gera, who made his first start for nearly a year on Boxing Day in the 1-1 draw at Tottenham following injury, is hoping for some sort of resolution soon.

“It has been difficult, but the team has been together and we stick together as we know we have to take points in this crucial part of the season,” he said.

The Hammers slipped to second-bottom after Boxing Day and Allardyce is terrified of the ‘R’ word and the effect it can have on his players.